Hybrid players are a bit like concept cars – glitzy, intriguing ideas but, when push comes to shove, coaches have invariably chosen something more reliable and conventional to actually go from A to B.
Eddie Jones talked up the possibility during his time as England coach. He thought wing Jack Nowell could work as a flanker. He posited that Tom Curry and Sam Underhill might head in the opposite direction and play in the backline.
But Jones never followed through on the idea. The division between backs and forwards remained. Orthodoxies survived.
But Jones’ successor Steve Borthwick might be the one to finally take the plunge.
Earlier this week, he flagged Ben Earl and Guy Pepper as midfield options and floated the possibility of deploying fellow back row Henry Pollock as a wing.
“Maybe, maybe not it will happen this autumn,” he said of a switch to starting centre for Earl.
“It’s certainly a factor I’m considering. He’s spent so much time training with the backs and you can see his skillset and his pace.”
If it is going to happen during this run of Tests, then next week against Fiji – rather than against New Zealand or Argentina – would be the obvious opportunity.
The 25-7 win over Australia will further tempt Borthwick to chance his arm.
In a little over 50 minutes on the pitch, Earl was England’s second-highest metre-maker, racking up 77m and streaking in from distance for the game’s opening try.
Pollock, who replaced Earl off the bench, made 52m and similarly revelled in broken field, showed superb hands to gather the ball before swerving outside full-back Andrew Kellaway for a try that put England 15-7 ahead.
The Northampton tyro, now sporting bleach-blond hair, scored twice as a replacement on his England debut against Wales in March and went on to become a British and Irish Lion in the summer.
“Everybody’s excited when Henry gets on to the pitch because of what he brings, there’s no doubt about that,” Borthwick said.
“The way he is and the energy he brings – he’s a ball of energy. I love having that character in the squad.”
Both Pollock and Earl have a back catalogue of carries – full of pace, as well as power – to be tested full-time behind the scrum.
Their jackalling threat would only be accentuated in the wide, open spaces.
Given the defensive differences and positioning complexities, it would still be a grand tactical gamble, however. As Borthwick’s soft launch has shown.
The England coach is experimenting with Tommy Freeman, more usually a wing, as a starting outside centre. The idea debuted in the Six Nations thrashing of Wales.
It didn’t always look convincing against the Wallabies.
